India, Pakistan tensions have not escalated: US

Washington, Jan 15 (IANS) The US has expressed satisfaction at India and Pakistan managing tensions in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks, but would like them to exchange more information to get to the bottom of the plot and prevent future attacks.Notwithstanding troop movements on either side, the two South Asian neighbours have so far successfully managed tensions in the aftermath of the Nov 26 attacks blamed on Pakistan based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday.

Relatively speaking there has been some cooperation between India and Pakistan, but they need to cooperate more to get the complete picture, he said when asked to comment on the Indian army chief’s confirmation that Pakistan has redeployed troops along the two countries’ tense border.

“Look, we we have been watching very closely for some time and talking to both sides, the Pakistan side and the Indian side about managing the tensions in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Mumbai,” McCormack said.

“To this point, both sides have managed to do that successfully, some of these troop movements notwithstanding, both on the Indian side as well as the Pakistani side.

“We have seen some of these deployments. But you know, overall, relatively speaking, we have seen some cooperation between India and Pakistan,” he said.

Asked if such troop movements are manageable in terms of not inflaming tensions, McCormack said: “Well, thus far, they have been. Thus far, each side has managed the aftermath of Mumbai in such a way that the tensions haven’t escalated in a way that has been unhelpful to maintaining peace and stability.”

But the US “would like to see more the exchange of information about the Mumbai attacks so that you can get to the bottom of exactly who was responsible, see the entire plot, and hold all responsible for their actions, and make sure that in doing so you prevent any further plots from getting to the point of execution,” McCormack said.

“We’ve seen some of that. We’d like to see more,” he said suggesting Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher had put it “very neatly in saying each side has pieces to the puzzle that the other doesn’t, so in order to complete the picture here, they need to cooperate.”